This is the pigment you want on the nose, lips and eye sockets on a light dog,,, This dog is out of Homer...



This one is out of CH Yellow Rose's Rio Bravo MH She is hunted extensively and needs her majors for a CH.. Again black pigment on the face...



Angie

Yes she had a white pup in her last litter... The pup has cream Down her back and ears now but pretty close.. She's thrown yellow on both litters she's had bred to my yellow male. He's also a pretty light yellow, so I want to keep a pup that isn't related to him so maybe he can breed to her when the time comes..

Are you talking about breeding a yellow male to a chocolate female?

Very good advise!!!!!!!!!

There's a lot of focus on looks and performance in this thread. What about line breeding? As a buyer, I'd be worried that their would be more variability pup-to-pup in the performance based outcrosses.

I am not a breeder, so I'm not sure what the best method would be to raise the COI and meet his color/performance goals but may take more planning and a few litters.

Might be a topic worth addressing with the breeders you talk to when you select a stud - lines, reputation of kennel, established kennel, so that you can breed the female you keep to another dog from a "close" litter.

There's a lot of "if's" that have already been addressed regarding titles and FT or not.

thats a awesome looking lab right there Is that your dog?

I purchased the Homer pup, trained him and sold him as a gun dog. The second dog I bred. The owner who is in the picture owns the father of this particular bitch.

Thank You....

Angie

Good point indeed!! I'm a big proponent of line breeding. I do it now with some of my FT bred females. Others I'm still out crossing field to show and then I will take that and go back to line breeding on the show side. A little field goes a long way in a gun dog.

IMHO!!!

Angie

THank you all! Ya'll gave me a lot of tips to think about! I may just find a pup out of the parents that are exactly the color and lineage I want. Instead of worrying if my chocolate dam will produce the color I want.

Or breed her to a black that carries yellow. I did do that with my chocolate gal and got some really nice black and yellow puppies that were light and had good pigment.

Just an idea.

Chocolate to yellow is not good... You can do a whole lot better.

Good luck,

Angie

Ok Thanks!
I started out just breeding my pets, I'm just now getting into figuring out the good lines and dominant colors and all that!
There's is definitely a LOT to learn!

In general, I agree that you should avoid light pigment (often due to a chocolate factor and sometimes called a dudley), however, you have to be careful making a pigment determination from a picture. The dog in the link, Bear, that someone says has light pigment actually has jet black pigment. He is also hard core hunting dog that has spent over 90 days in the field hunting very abrasive cattail sloughs and heavy brush over the past 4 years that butcher a dogs face. As I have hunted with Bear on all of those hunts, I can tell you that very often his eyes, nose and lips are blood red and actually bleeding after a day of doing what he loves to do so much. As a result, until months after the season when he has totally healed and his skin has returned to 98% black, his skin does appear to be more pink. Although he is gorgeous, he is not a show dog, he is a real working / hunting dog and this condition is just a well-earned battle scar.

As far as avoiding pointing labs, that is like saying "avoid dogs with a tail of a certain length". It is not a defect in the breed. Pointing is just a genetic trait that comes from the origin of the labrador breed. There are many very well bred labs that point. In fact, many of the famous champion field trial lines just happen to produce dogs that point. More and more hunters across the nation, are discovering that a lab that points to tell you where an upland bird is in a field is a blast to hunt over. Flushing is great as well, but people should know that there are two options with hunting labs; flushing and pointing, and its just a personal choice as to which you prefer.

Look at the website for Dickendall Labs in Gainesville Texas. The have bred more champions than any other kennel in the state.
You will not be disappointed, IF they decide your bitch is worthy.
"Dickendalls Zen Master" ought to be what you are interested in..

Show labs, Really? You can see a HUGE difference in the female Angie posted and the dogs these folks have....

I can absolutely see the difference. Angie's dog is tall and leggy, has a relatively narrow head and is a little darker yellow than what I think the O.P. was looking for.
Angie's dog is what I think of as a HUNTING Lab.
Dickendall Labs meet the requirements for AKC show labs.
I like both varieties, it just so happens that I own a show lab that hunts.
The O.P. was not specific except for color..

The second one from the left ought to do it